Syria’s ruling Baath party will make at its June 17th congress an evaluation of the outgoing era since the party held its last congress in 1985 and address its failings, according to Syrian information minister Adnan Imran.

“The congress will draw up a realistic program but an ambitious one able to realize the goals sought by citizens’” said Adnan Imran at a press conference in Damascus Thursday.

“The positive aspects will remain the same, but we will change the negative ones,” the minister said.

The presser, to which only foreign press was invited, was the first to be held by Imran since he became minister in Mustafa Miro’s government, which was formed in March.

The minister confirmed that in light of the Baath regional command’s nomination of Bashar Assad to succeed his father, the People’s Assembly will meet on June 25th “to discuss the decision” before a national referendum is held.

According to the Constitution, the referendum should be held 90 days after the death of the president.

Imran stressed that all procedures taken by Syrian authorities regarding Bashar’s nomination for presidency were constitutional, adding that the street rallies that raised Bashar’s pictures and chanted loyalty to him, along with other expressions of support were indicative of popular endorsement of the late Assad’s son as new president.

On Monday, speaker of the Syrian People’s Assembly, Abdul Kader Kaddoura, announced that the regional command of Baath will appoint Bashar Assad as secretary general, to succeed president Assad who held the seat throughout his reign.

Meanwhile, Imran welcomed the participation of Turkish president Ahmed Sezer in Assad’s funeral.

“Any goodwill initiative is mostly welcome in Syria,” he commented.

Relations between Syria and Turkey were strained over Turkish allegations of Syrian support of Kurdish rebels.